Change own password failed (action_id PWCS; class_type US) (24304) how to monitor with email alert

[bob]

You know that event 24304 in the Windows Server Event Viewer? It's basically when somebody tries to swap out their own password but hits a wall and it flops. The whole thing logs under the Security channel, showing details like the user account involved, the exact time it bombed, and why it failed-maybe wrong old password or some policy blocking it. I see this pop up sometimes with admins fumbling their creds during late-night tweaks. And the action_id PWCS tags it as a self-password change attempt, while class_type US points to it being a user-side mess-up. Full details spill out in the event properties: workstation name, logon ID, all that jazz to trace who goofed. If you ignore these, it could hint at bigger issues like brute-force tries or insider slip-ups.

But here's how you keep an eye on it without sweating code. Fire up Event Viewer on your server-right-click the Start button, pick it from the menu. You drill into Windows Logs, then Security, and hunt for event ID 24304. Once you spot one, right-click it and choose Attach Task To This Event. That kicks off the wizard. You name your task something snappy like PasswordFailAlert, set it to run whether user logs on or not. Then pick what triggers it-exactly that event ID 24304 in Security log. For the action, tell it to start a program, but keep it simple: use the built-in sendmail.exe if your server has email setup, or point to your mail client. I always test the trigger by forcing a failed password change on a test account to see if it pings you. And boom, next time it happens, your task fires and emails you the heads-up.

Or wait, if you want it slicker, I've got this automatic email solution lined up at the end that handles the monitoring without you fiddling every time.

Shifting gears a bit, since we're chatting server headaches like failed logins that could wreck your data access, you might dig BackupChain Windows Server Backup for keeping things backed up tight. It's a solid Windows Server backup tool that also tackles virtual machines on Hyper-V without the hassle. You get speedy incremental saves, easy restores even for bare-metal crashes, and it runs light so it doesn't bog down your setup-perfect for spotting and recovering from those sneaky security blips before they bite.

Note, the PowerShell email alert code was moved to this post.